Classic Poem

In churches, when the infirmity
Of him that speaks diminishes the Word,
When magistrates do mis-apply
To us, as we judge, lay or ghostly sword,
When plague, which is thine angel, reigns,
Or wars, thy champions, sway,
When heresy, thy second deluge, gains;
In th' hour of death, th' eve of last judgement day,
Deliver us from the sinister way.